Social media sites pushing self-harm content, says mother of B.C. teen who died

Chelsey Whittingham remembers her girl as a loving, goaded, funny 13-year-old, who enjoyed gymnastic exercise and brought joyfulness and light up to the people around her.

But she said Maddy Croswell's life was cut short by a social media platform that repeatedly pushed harmful content onto her feed, without her parents being any the wiser.

Now the grieving mother from British Columbia has issued an emotional call for change, including a push for the regulation of self-harm and suicide-promoting content targeting minors, and independent oversight of social media platforms. 

"We believed we were doing everything we could to protect our child. We had parental controls on her phone. We monitored screen time. We had open communication and a safe, loving home environment. We had no reason to believe the extent of what Maddy was being exposed to by the social media platform," Whittingham said at a news conference on Monday.

"What many parents may not realize is that parental controls alone are no match for powerful recommendation systems that can continuously expose vulnerable children to emotionally harmful and dangerous content without their families' knowledge."

Maddy died last September. Whittingham said she deserved to have been protected.

"These platforms are designed to maximize kids' time and attention online. Parents should be educated on how to effectively set time limits, monitor children's use and disable the collection of data and algorithmic recommendations that are targeted to maximizing time online, with no regard to the harms that can be caused," she said.

"This requires a concerted effort by governments, educators, health-care providers and parents, and the co-operation of the tech companies. It is time for these companies to put people over profits."

B.C. Calls for Canada-wide age restrictions on social media

B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma was also at the news conference and praised a move by Australia's government to increase the maximum penalty for breaches of its social media age law to $99 million, or about $96.8 million Cdn.

"I think then that level of fines that they're talking about now are enough to get the attention of these companies that are really just operating for profit at the expense of people's well-being," she said.

"I think Canada should look at that, personally. I think they should look at making sure that Australia's example is followed. We have a chance with legislation that's before the House to learn those lessons and get it right." 

You asked, we answer: Canada's new social media rules for kids

Earlier this month, the federal government announced plans for online harms legislation, which includes forcing social media companies to ban kids under 16 from their platforms.

The bill also would create a new digital regulator and impose a duty to act responsibly on the companies behind AI chatbots.

Whittingham said she's "encouraged" by the federal government's bill, but called for more.

"Families cannot fight billion-dollar technology systems alone. Canada needs greater transparency around age verification, recommendation algorithms directed at children, regulation of self-harm and suicide-promoting content targeting minors, independent oversight of platforms and faster intervention mechanisms for youth," she said.

Canada proposes social media ban for kids — critics say it won't work

The federal government has said that the independent federal regulator, known as the Digital Safety Commission of Canada, would take about 18 months to get set up, but Sharma said children need help faster and the province wanted to be involved when regulations were written.

She said the commissioner should have the ability to compel action from companies and have "real accountability."

"All that needs to be determined through a lot of the work in the future, and we want to make sure that they're strong enough to have teeth," she said.

B.C. Minister says federal social media bill addresses some, but not all, of province's concerns

Ottawa's online harms bill 'a miss' when it comes to regulating AI chatbots: B.C. Premier

The province has also been pushing for a national threshold for when and how social media and AI chatbot companies notify law enforcement of threats of violence or self-harm on their platforms.

Whittingham said her daughter should be remembered for the life she lived, not the tragedy that took her.

"Maddy is so terribly loved and missed every single day by everyone who knew her. And if sharing her story can help protect even one child or spare one family from this kind of devastation, then her voice deserves to be heard," she said.

"Children deserve to grow up in an online world designed to protect them, not exploit their vulnerability."

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